12 games and counting. After Chelsea swatted Arsenal away at Stamford Bridge, Arsene Wenger’s wait for his first victory over Jose Mourinho goes on. Arsenal fans could be forgiven for wondering if it will ever end.

However, there was plenty more behind Wenger’s aggressive approach. Wenger’s rage was born from a decade of frustration: he can’t stand the Chelsea manager, but nor can he beat him.

Time after time, Mourinho’s pragmatism has overcome Wenger’s purism. The Frenchman is gripped by footballing ideals that define his tactical philosophy. Mourinho does not seem burdened by the same romanticism.

Wenger is known as “The Professor”, but can’t shake his artistic tendencies. In reality, it is Mourinho who is the clinical scientist. Give him control of that Arsenal XI, and one suspects he might have devised a formula to deliver at least a point.

Watching Wenger tackle Mourinho is sometimes akin to seeing a man take on the ultimate chess computer: the Portuguese always seems several moves ahead.

Jose Mourinho record vs Arsene Wenger (all comps)

7

Wins

5

Draws

0

Defeats

The lingering suspicion is that Wenger’s ideology can only flourish when he has the best players at this disposal. As Sunday’s match demonstrated, that is not currently the case.

Chelsea’s spine looked far sturdier than the one Arsenal were able to field, and it was their big players who delivered the game’s telling moments.

That’s no great surprise, really. Although Arsenal have begun spending lavish sums to supplement their squad, Chelsea have been at it for years.

For a long time, Arsenal fans sniped that buying success was easy. The Gunners’ relative lack of progress after an £80million outlay suggests it’s not quite so simple.

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Not every marquee player Arsenal buy is guaranteed to be a success. Let’s not forget, Chelsea broke transfer records to sign Andriy Shevchenko and Fernando Torres, only to let them leave for next to nothing.

A big budget does not guarantee a cohesive team. A £42.5 million price-tag does not guarantee a productive playmaker.

Nevertheless, Wenger could certainly have done more in this summer’s market to prepare his team. Mourinho wouldn’t entertain the prospect of entering a season with Mikel Arteta as his first-choice holding midfielder.

In January of 2014, he sold Juan Mata to raise the funds to sign Nemanja Matic. Out went style, in came steel. Wenger has shown no such hardheadedness: Arsenal still have a surfeit of playmakers and a dearth of destroyers.